The Bantam A Marsh Landscape Mariners of the Sunshine Coast Central Baseball League won the Mission River Rush tournament during the May Long weekend.
The Mariners went 3-1 in the round robin portion of the six-team tournament, losing only to tournament favourite Mission Black Sox in a hard-fought battle on the opening day.
Sechelt then defeated Mission Canadians in the crossover game to meet the Abbotsford Red Sox, who they defeated 5-4 in the final. The team not only won the tournament, but took home the most sportsmanlike team medals as well. The Mariners opened up the tournament against the Coquitlam/Moody Pirates. They came ready to play and jumped out to a 10-0 lead, cruising to a 19-2 win. Jacob Davis pitched a strong game and was named MVP, while Andrew Marsh went three for three with a single, triple and home run.
In the next game against Mission, the Mariners again jumped out to a big lead, this time 8-1, but Mission battled back for a 10-8 win.
Pitcher Kyle Hamilton was named game MVP.
On Sunday, Sechelt picked up 16-10 win over the Canadians.
Andrew McCourt went four for four, game MVP Griffin Troup stepped up his play on the mound and behind the plate, while strong pitching by Dominic Acciaroli closed out the game.
The final game of the round robin saw Sechelt pick up a dramatic 13-11 win over the Ridge Meadow Yankees.
Game MVP Andrew went two for two with a walk and scored three runs, Johnna Lussier scored an important insurance run in the sixth. He walked and stole home on a passed ball and Dominic once again pulled out the save.
In the semifinal against the Canadians, Sechelt won 18-13, thanks in part to smart base running by Ross Lanskail and strong hitting by Jake Downie and game MVP Luke Roose.
The championship final was a back and forth affair against Abbotsford.
After five innings the Red Sox were up 4-3, but the Mariners shut the door, paving the way for a dramatic final inning comeback.
In the bottom of the seventh, singles by Kyle and Dominic brought game MVP Phillip Jacobsen to the plate. With one out, Phillip smashed a line drive into right field and drove across the winning run.
